Request support from Richard B.

Forum Posts

If you're thinking about buying a new laptop v's repairing the old one then I'd be tempted to say buy a new one.
A new hard drive is &#163;60, labour would be roughly the same and a Windows 7 installation disk will be over &#163;100.

Jamie,
Do as Jon first suggested - double the RAM (or more if you can). Increasing the amount of RAM from 512MB (frankly I'm not surprised that your having speed issues) to AT LEAST 1GB.
Visit www.crucial.com/uk to buy the correct type of RAM for your PC.
Once you've done that then the other issues will fade away into the background.

Have you ever been able to connect to this wireless connection using your laptop?
If not then I'm willing to bet that your encryption is WPA or WPA2. Some XP machines don't like WPA or WAP2 encryption so you should change it to WPA and test - if it fails to connect then lower the encryption to WEP
I'll bet you're using a wireless dongle as well which is another pointer to the encryption being too high for it to connect.

prizegiveaway.org is a website which is McAfee is blocking access to and which is why a virus scan does not show anything.
http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/prizegiveaway.org
It's a scam site - stay away from it.

Hi Kate,
Follow these instruction to create a peer-to-peer network:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/8339.html
If this works and your husband can connect to it using his laptop then the airport card is good and something is wrong with your installation of OSX.
If it doesnt work then your airport card is faulty / intermittently faulty and will need replaced.

Richard to the rescueâ€¦.. hopefully!
Kate, try these:
1. Turn Airport OFF
2. Navigate to the folder (NOTE THE DIFFERENCE):
/YourHardDrive/YourHomeDirectoryLibrary/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/
and delete the files Jon listed:
a) com.apple.airport.preferences.plist
b) com.apple.nat.plist
c) com.apple.network.identification.plist
If you can't find your wireless network in the keychain then it means you have NEVER connected to it using the Mac but you also say that the Airport is on and the network name is ticked.
Do you have a phone or another laptop with wireless? If so can you connect to the wireless?
Try this as well:
Go to System Preferences -> Network -> Airport -> Advanced -> Select your wireless network name and press "-" to delete it. Shutdown, restart and try again.

You can buy an adaptor for the micro slot on the left hand side that will allow you to plug in a HDMI cable to your TV.
Please note though that if your Mac is earlier than mid-2010 then you will not get audio through the HDMI lead and you'll have to find another solution for that.

Change the router for a startâ€¦ Netgear, Belkin and D-Link are the 3 best brands.
Does the Siemens router have an external aerial?
Netbooks aren't well know for wifi reception due to the smaller aerials that are fitted in to them.

Kenneth - have you tried reading the manual yet?
Please do NOT tack your questions on to the end of other subjects - your question doesn't relate to any of the previous posters so why do it?
If you want to ask a question then start a new one. It's quite simple really.

This is probably not the reason or cure but I have seen PC's (Mac and Linux) where there is no internet connectivity and yet Skype continues to work.
The fault for this is DNS. The laptop connects to the router and gets its DNS from there whereas Skype doesn't use the routers DNS to connect to the Skype server therefore no internet browsing AND Skype working.
When you say that the laptop is connecting to your home network okay what IP address is it getting from your router? Can you open up a terminal, type ifconfig and post the results back here please.

Error 711: Cannot load Remote Access Service Connection Manager will only concern you if you need to create new network connection.
Try th epossible solution posted at #9 and #10 here: http://windows7forums.com/windows-7-support/18850-error-711-cannot-load-remote-access-connection-manager.html
Do you have the original Windows 7 installation DVD?

Michael - Have you ever heard of full stops and capital letters? They make forum posts MUCH easier for us to readâ€¦
Installing SP1 removes all previous restore points so all we can suggest is going into add / remove programs and see if SP1 is still listed in there. If it is then uninstall it.
At some point you WILL need to reinstall SP1 so better do try again as soon as possible.

You may have downloaded SP 1, 2 and 3 but have you installed them?
HP's website is the only place you should be looking for any missing drivers.
However, if the worst comes to the worst try this: http://www.devicedoctor.com/

First of all Linda, stop putting exclamation marks (!) at the end of every sentence. It makes what you are telling us difficult to read and is just plain stupid.
Follow these instructions and tell us how you get on.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982116

PS Those two links are for Canadian Healthcare (viagra etc) - nothing to do with porn emails at all.
What he DOES need to do is download and run combofix and then hitman pro to clear any malware on his computer. It sounds as if his machine may be part of a spam botnet.

Those are not email addresses, they are websites.
He obviously clicked on the link inside the email and as a result of it his email address has been confirmed as "active" hence all of the spam he is now getting.
There is NOTHING he can do about it...

Maplin are usually very good for this sort of stuff...
Did you install any software that came with the card? If so then try starting the computer up in safe mode, uninstall the software and reboot the computer.

Try repeating that in proper English and we may be able to understand you....
BUT I think what you're saying is the laptop doesn't work without the mains lead plugged in? If so then the battery is faulty. Replace it.

Philip - How do you know the RTC has stopped working?
If it is the battery as you think then why are you trying to get into the BIOS to record its information?
I suspect that you don't actually know what your doing so why not pay up and get someone professional to fix it for you.

Here's something that is even better than a Mac magazine - and you already have them on your Mac.
Open Finder, Go to your hard drive (probably called Macintosh HDD), then "User Guide and Information".
There are 6 documents in there and amongst them are "Welcome to Snow Leopard" and "Macbook User Guide".
Those two documents will teach you just as much as any magazine.
Enjoy!

It will stay in drafts until you send it. That is how all email programmes work.
UNLESS you have the same occasional problem as I do on my Mac - I compose an email and send it BUT there is still a copy in the drafts folder. In this case I simply delete the copy that is in the drafts folder.

Blinkning file symbol means that the start up files are either missing or corrupt.
You need to restart from the disks that came with the Mac (Insert the DVD into the Mac and press and hold down the C key while switching the MAc on) and run disk utility. If that fails to repair the start-up problems then reinstall OSX over itself. You 'shouldnt' lose any of your dataâ€¦
Failing that, get a PCIQ engineer to come and pay you a visit.

If you don't know what your doing then don't touch itâ€¦.
BUT, as it's now broken, have you had a look on the manufacturers website or on Asrock's website?
Find the motherboard model number and go here: http://www.asrock.com/support/download.asp

http://www.freeridegames.com/
They certainly don't look graphics-intensive.
Pamela - what is the operating system on your computer? XP, Vista or Windows 7?
What model of graphics card do you have inside your computer?
Do you know how to change the current settings of the graphics card?

Jon is right. The gray folder means that the computer cannot find the operating system.
Causes can be a dead / dying hard drive or the operating system files are corrupt.
You can try to boot from the installation DVD that came with the computer and try to reinstall the operating system. You "shouldn't" lose anything but don't quote me on that.

It's all academic now. The PC is pretty well stuffed and getting it working again through this forum will be highly unlikely.
You'll need to get someone to fix it for you.
Just a thought - you did put the BIOS battery back in correctly?

Marte, this may be a really silly question but have you tried the brightness controls (F1 and F2 keys)?
I genuinely had a customer this evening who told me that her Mac laptop screen had gone. 30 seconds after looking at it the screen was back to normal!

Capability v's speed can be summed up (for those who remember) simply - 6502 processor v's x86 processor.
The 6502 was faster and had less instructions but you couldn't do a proper comparison because they were two different architectures.
Same same can be said of Apple computer (pre Intel) v's Windows PC's
And the same can be said about Celeron v's twin core processors.
All of the above are like comparing chalk and cheese.
Just my 2 cents worth :-)

I'll vote for a crack in the motherboard at the corner where it can be touched to crash it.
The other crashes are due to the board expanding when heating up and breaking / shorting circuits.
You need a new motherboard in the laptop.

If its a software issue then PROBABLY yes, otherwise no.
When the computer is switched on how long is it till the first crash, then the second crash and then the third crash? Does the time interval get shorter between crashes?

Well, repairing winsock will have nothing to do with Windows not being able to write to memory. It should not be asking you for the installation disk either which makes me wonder what programme your using to repair winsock?
If you want to repair winsock then use this programme: http://www.snapfiles.com/get/winsockxpfix.html
Use this programme to ensure that ALL of AVG has been removed: http://download.avg.com/filedir/util/avg_arm_sup_____.dir/avgremover.exe

What you can try is this:
On another computer, download a programme called combofix and burn it to CD.
Start your own computer in safe mode.
Put the CD in and run combofix.
Once its finished then reboot your computer and remove Avira and replace it with Avast antivirus and set it to schedule a boot scan.
Once you've done all of the above then let us know what's happening.

Power supplies don't hold charge - its the battery that holds the charge.
Tell us EXACTLY what happens...
Does the power supply 'brick' have a green light on it?
If not have you tried the laptop with another power supply?

Ah ha, I spot the problem....
You have obviously upgraded your Outlook from an earlier version and the pst file hasn't been upgraded with it. Your PST is at the magic 2GB limit - it's maximum size.
You will need to create a new PST (2007 format) through Outlook (File - New - Personal Folder) and then manually copy ALL of your email over to it. It's a pain to do but at least it will work for you.

You will need to update the driver for it through Windows Update.
Right click "Computer" and choose "manage", choose "devices" (or similar wording", right click on the "USB printer" and select "update driver".

What version of operating system?
But you know enough to use splashtop and Express Gate??
I suspect this could become a long conversation so I suggest you simply arrange through this website to get an engineer to come and fix it for you.

If the several new mice don't work on your laptop then I would suspect the laptop is at fault rather than the mice.
Have you tried them on a different computer? If they work on it but not your laptop then it is the laptop at fault.

The PXE-E61 message means that the laptop is trying to boot from a network image.
Change the boot order within the BIOS and start again.
Obviously, if you're having to post here to get help with something that could easily be answered using Google then your friend hasn't chosen the right person to do something vaguely technical to her laptop. Give it back to her and let her choose someone who knows what they're doing.

Effectively what you're doing is putting the hard drive into a new PC and the Windows licence only covers one PC which is why it is telling you to reregister (ie buy a new licence).
If all you want to do is access the files to recover some stuff then why not consider an external USB hard drive case and plug the drive into that?
Ignore completely what the Packard Bell guy said - he's leading you on a string(er)!

More than likely a thermal overload on the processor or motherboard, especially if it was as dusty as you hint at.
If so then you are looking at having to replace motherboard, processor, processor fan and RAM chips unless you can find an identical board for sale somewhere.

Create a second account on your computer, log into it and find the location of the 'Show Desktop' icon (right-click and choose Properties to get it).
Open My Computer, navigate to the location shown and copy it from there to the root of your C drive.
Log back in as yourself and when you then click on the "Show Desktop" icon point it to where you copied the file to.

Hi Jon,
It's a Mac and I suspect he means a router rather than a switch. That particular model of printer is capable of wireless printing which would be far easier than connecting by ethernet and wouldn't need to use a switch/router/whatever so he would be able to browse and print at the same time.
Modem sharing doesn't exist with Mac's!

The 3G dongle will grab the active network connection and that is why you cannot connect to the printer while you are browsing. If you connected to the internet through the switch then you would be able to use both at the same time.

Eh?
You say blank blue screen but then you say no display. Is the display blue or blank?
Do you get ANY messages at all on the screen?
Any noises? (beeps etc)
Does the computer SOUND as if it is starting up normally?

Download and run Combofix:
http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/sUBs/ComboFix.exe
PLEASE NOTE: This is dangerous software in the wrong hands so if you are not 100% certain about running it then please get a professional to do it - it has the potential to screw up your PC.

Download, install, update and then run Superantispyware from here:
http://downloads.superantispyware.com/downloads/SUPERAntiSpyware.exe
Once it has finished cleaning your PC let us know the results please and then if there are anymore issues we can go from there knowing that your PC is clean(er).

Sorry James but we need A LOT MORE INFORMATION from you before we can even hope to understand what it is you're asking.
What is the printer folder message that you are getting?
We need PRECISE messages...

Hi Sebastian,
Your call came through on my account today.
You will need to take it to Apple for repair unless you want to be charged in excess of £100...
The earphone sockets are part of the main logic board and are not replacable without either:
1. Replacing the entire board (Â£400+) or
2. Some incredibly delicate soldering skills (and the very real risk of damaging the logic board).

Stephanie,
The USB port SHOULD work with the Laserjet.
When you were setting it up, did the HP software setup the IP printer port? (Printer / properties / port and have a look at the line with a tick in it)

The probable cause is disk corruption...
Kate - you should probably run disk utility and check your hard drive for corruption's and permission problems.
Go to applications / utilities and you'll find 'Disk Utility' in there. Any problems then please let us know.

Hi Kate,
Same as the Quark problem, have a look for the preference files in library/preferences folder. There should be at least 3 of them so this time don't delete them. Click on each file, press the enter button and rename each file. Do this one file at a time and then launch Distiller. If it starts up then you have found the corrupt file and you can then delete it.
Jon - Busy moving house at the moment!

Hi Bethan,
On the battery is a small button which, when pressed, tells you how much charge is in it.
If you press it and there are no lights then it is either the battery or the charging circuit on the logic board.
A new battery will be cheaper!

Kate,
Have a look for the preference file for it. It should be located here:
Open Finder and navigate to /yourusername/library/preferences folder and rename the preference file for Quark then restart it.
Does it still bounce?

Nigel,
There is no need to format and restore simply because you have a virus.
Make sure your antivirus is installed and up to date then scan your computer to get rid of it then...
... download and install superantispyware, update it and run a scan for spyware.
After both of these your computer will be fine.

Mark,
As well as giving it a scan, if you go into the options / preferences in superantispyware there are system repair functions in there. Run the ones relating to desktop and system restore too.
In fact, run 'em all! It can do no harm and will at least reset everything back to default values.

This sounds an odd one. First thing to try would be a thorough check for viruses and spyware.
Download and install superantispyware and run it.
Once you've done that come back and let us know what it found (if anything)

Yes you can with one caveat.
1. You will have to enable disk mode through iTunes.
2. The photos will not be the same size or resolution as the originals. They are smaller and compressed so expect to lose some quality and size with them.

I've seen this with a Mac owner who had a hotmail account.
Some one, somewhere simply went through eveery possibly combination of letters to guess their hotmail password and then once in, sent out a lot of spam offering 'cheap' chinese electrical goods.
If your email address is msn or hotmail then this is what probably has been done.
However, as Alan suggests, also check your PC for spyware.

Jon is right - remember though that a system restore will NOT replace any damaged photos / music etc and WILL NOT get rid of the spyware screensaver. For that you will need to download an antispyware program and scan your computer with it.
It might be worthwhile doing a chkdsk to check / repair any errors on your hard drive as well.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265

IE8 is still a beta product so simply uninstall it and hopefully that should cure your Live Mail problem.
Forget about Reg Cure too. Uninstall it. The registry is simply too valuable to be messed about with.
Mouse freezing - Try changing the power saving options in the Control Panel.

Is your computer's internet connection wired or wireless?
Have you tried resetting your broadband modem? (Pull out the power lead for 30 seconds, plug it back in and try to connect to the internet)
Do you have firewall software such as Norton? If you do have Norton then try uninstalling it and then try to connect to the internet.

If it's tea then I would be VERY surprised if it will work. Tea will leave a residue on the circuit boards and if the tea had sugar in it then it will be even worse.
The advice about drying it out only really applies when it is water that has been spilt.
MA - You're probably looking at repair and/or replacement.

Sarah,
Jon has some good suggestions there but can you try this please (you never know...)
Open up your web browser and in the address bar put 192.168.1.1 and press enter
That will open the router configuration page and it will then ask you for a username and password. The defaults are admin and admin.
Hopefully there will be a configuration wizard that you can use that will ask you for the encapsulation type (PPoA), username and password (supplied by Tiscali),
I'm working from memory here but that should be all it asks you. Finish the wizard and then give it a minute or so to restart etc. Once it has done so then can you try the internet and let us know which lights are on on the front of the router and whether or not they are flashing or steady?
Thank you :)

Hi Ross,
You don't need to put full stops in every space you can find...
It sounds as if your hard drive has developed a serious fault and needs to be looked at.
Arrange for a professional to have it checked out.

Having had experience of both wireless and mains wired, wireless will always be more practical and who cares what the data transfer speeds are? After all, most broadband speeds at less than 10M so at even at 108, 54, 36 or whatever there is spare capacity.
As for setting wireless up on Linux - only with an up to date kernel and distro. And when Joe Bloggs goes to install his latest PC game they soon learn what compatibility means...
Nik - USB dongles are absolutely fine. Netgear are the best known brand and are pretty reliable.
Jon - Agree totally about MCSE's.

It sounds for all the world as if Norton, even when disabled, is blocking internet access to IE.
Rob - Try uninstalling Norton rather than just disabling it and let us know what happens.
I'm willing to place a wee bet on this one......!

Hi Janice,
The two errors are completely different and unrelated (as hard as it is to believe).
For of all, you will need to correct any disk problems you have using Microsoft's built-in chkdsk program then it sounds as if the disk errors have corrupted your Sage software. Once the disk errors are corrected then you'll need to reinstall Sage again.

It could also be that the keyboard needed to be removed to replace the hard drive and the ribbon cable connecting it has not been reconnected properly.
If that is the case, take it back to whoever did the HDD replacement and insist that they reconnect the touchpad for you free of charge.

You've been nobbled by one of the many rogue software scams that are floating about and they are almost impossible to get rid off without professional help.
Time to part with money and get someone in to do it.

Do you see a magnifying glass icon on top right hand of the screen? If so the your fonts folder is corrupt.
If not then there is a startup program causing the problem. As you cannot boot into safe mode (using the shift key) then there is little that you can do as a user.
Time to seek professional help for either cause.

Hi Aileen,
Open finder and go to your home folder (the one with the little house icon) and double click on it. When that folder opens you will find more folders and one will be called 'downloads'
Click once on it, hold the mouse button down and drag the folder onto the dock.
Problem solved!

Now, how does Brijesh Patel know that the posters surname is also Patel????????
Where does ndis.sys come into the problem?????
Same file name (sptd.sys) capitalised in both messages...
I think this is a fake posting.

You have a corrupt fonts folder within your home directory.
You will need to connect your mac mini in target mode to another mac (or pc if it supports firewire) and delete the contents of the library/fonts folder.
You can also log in as another user if you enable root access and then use the terminal application to delete the folder contents.

Given the length of this thread and the amount of information that Jon, Alan and Robin have supplied, maybe you should bite the bullet and get someone in to finish the job off for you?
There is only so much information that can be passed on by a forum.

Hi Doreen,
You will need to buy an Apple Airport card to put into your Mac before you can use the wireless.
They cost about £60 and you can get them from your local Apple stockist or have a hunt on the internet.

Sounds like you'll have to bite the bullet again and replace the laptop.
While you're in there though, remove the hard drive as a professional will be able to copy your data (photos, doc's, emails etc) onto the replacement laptop.

If it is starting up and showing the 'Mac' starting then the hard drive is okay.
Try starting the laptop up while holding down the shift key until you see the Apple logo. This will start it up in safe mode.
Lets us know what happens with this.

It sounds as if the hard drive may be corrupt (the repair error message).
Stop using it (you risk losing data / photos / music etc) and either take it in for repair or place a call for a mac engineer through this site.

What in the world is â€œError Code Purple,â€ ? A quick search on the net revealed that this was a booby trap placed in computers in which a â€œtattooâ€ or numerical signature of the motherboard and hardware configuration is created at the factory and encoded into the restore disks on a particular computer. When you re-install your system, it checks to make sure the system has not been modified. If you have modified your system, the â€œtattooâ€ generated by the checking program will be different than the original, and the system will not boot.
The underlying problem is that there is a .bat file that calls a python script to check the tattoo upon boot up.
If you remove that call, then there is no check and the machine boots up just fine.
The file is:
C:hpinConfigCheckcfgchk.bat

Code Purple error results when you try to install a Compaq/HP tattooed OS onto a non-tattooed motherboard.
If your computer is a Compaq or Hp, then your tattoo on your motherboard is either improperly tattooed, damaged or missing.
This tattoo can go missing if your computer has been in a shop and had its motherboard replaced with a non-Compaq/Hp tattooed motherboard.
Sometimes even computers that are repaired directly by Compaq/HP are returned with non-tattooed motherboard and have their OS reinstalled using a non-tattooed version of the OS.
To repair this, you will have to get the motherboard retattooed by Compaq/HP in order to reinstall the Compaqa/HP tattooed OS install disk that came with the computer.
An alternative to doing this is to purchase a retail copy of the OS, such as buying a retail copy of Windows XP. These retail copies of the OS will install on any brand of computer and do not require a tattoo to be present.

The Tech guys must be the most useless bunch of idiots I've ever met....
Try repeatedly pressing the F10 button as you switch on the laptop. There should be a recovery partition on your computers hard drive (unless it was the hard drive that was repaired in which case you have lost it).
If that doesnt work then you will have to contact Advent to get a recovery disk from them.

Go into System Preferences / Network / Advanced / WINS and put the workgroup name in there.
Then go back to System Preferences / Sharing and ensure that File Sharing is ticked.
Any problems then post back please.

You want to be able to drag and drop file with your desktop and the server.
FTP is the only way that you will be able to reliably this. There are other ways such as VNC with drag-and-drop capabilities which may work for you but they tend to be a bit hit-and-miss

If you got into your add/remove programs (through the control panel) and uninstall iTunes then reinstall it that should solve the problem.
Don't worry about losing your stuff, you wont unless you don something very silly!

The scope of the recovery service is pretty much the same as yours. I think in all these years (7!) I've only come across 2 or 3 drives that I have had to send away and they were all due to the electronics.
Let someone else's insurance worry about the data!

Yep, you'll need an identical hard drive so that you can move the controller from the good drive to the faulty one. Be VERY careful as there are some small and thin ribbon cables connecting to the HDD chassis.

Our company offers a data recovery service and we tend to do most of it in-house.
If the hard drive isn't being recognised by the BIOS then it is (more than likely) the controller that has gone which will mean replacing the electronics on the hard drive.
When I have had to use an external company then it has been http://www.dataclinic.co.uk/
Warning - Data recovery is now cheap. Expect to pay a good few hundred pounds for this service.

It should only cost you roughly £100 to get an engineer to come out and resurrect your hard drive.
It sounds as if there are some corruption's on it that are preventing it from starting up and can be relatively easily fixed by a professional.

Try Be Un Limited (owned by O2) or O2 themselves. They currently have a special offer on: £16 - £20 per month for up to 20MB download speed.
Just remember that the advertised download speeds of any supplier will be under ideal conditions and almost no-one gets those!

Almost all NAS units that I've installed on Mac & PC networks have worked well.
The only problem I've found is that the suppliers tend to only supply Windows software and forget about the Mac side.
The only problem that you may face is if your Mac's are 10.5.x and you want to use Time Machine as the backup software. TM needs to format the NAS as journalised therefore the Windows machines will not recognise it.

The main causes of overheating are:
1. Bad air flow within the case.
2. Underpowered CPU fan.
3. CPU over-clocked.
4. Bad thermal seal between the CPU and cooling fan.
If you are 100% certain that it is none of the above then let us know.

From previous experience the linux (Ubuntu) boot loader (GRUB) will have to be overwritten before you can reinstall Windows. You will need to overwrite the MBR record on the hard drive before the Windows reinstall will work.
Get a professional in to do it.
And, if you think we professionals are expensive, wait until you see how much an amateur costs... and keep brothers away from it in future!

If you have a legitimate copy of Windows then follow the instructions and you will have no problems.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307890
If you are looking for a way around a dodgy version then look elsewhere.

How far does it get before it reboots? If its before Windows starts up then try unplugging RAM, HDD etc and see if it still happens?
If it happens after Windows has started have you tried enabling boot logging and seeing if that give any info?

As soon as you switch on your Mac start pressing the eject key. Keep going until it comes out (up to 1 minute).
Make sure you are using a wired keyboard though. A bluetooth keyboard will not make this trick work.

Double click on the trash can, select the untitles cd then do a right-click and select 'get info'.
Once the info bar opens have a look at the bottom in the section where it says something along the lines of 'permissions'. You probably have read-only permissions for it so change the permissions to read-write adn then you will be able to empty the trash.
Any problems then please get back in touch.

Has logmein ever worked from home to office?
The usual reason is that your IT administrators have block the relevant port in the company firewall. As far as I remember, logmein uses up to 6 ports (holes in the firewall) and these may have been blocked.
Your best bet is to check with the company's IT people first.

According to the PCIQ admins we (the professionals) will have our own private forum in a month or so. Once we have it then we can comment on the grammatically-challenged and everything else that we want.
Until then I feel that commenting in public on their abilities or otherwise does no good and can potentially put the clients off from using this wonderful service.
Just my 2 euro's worth.

Apparently it is possible for LCD screens to leak fluid.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080120195742AAID2vh
http://www.experts-exchange.com/Hardware/Displays_Monitors/LCD_and_Plasma/Q_22960446.html
http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/laptop-support/171612-monitor-leaking-i-beleive-need-help-please.html
According to one of the posts listed it could be a mercury compound leaking out. If so then be very careful. Mercury can be lethal.
Either way though, your screen is bust and will need replaced. There is no hope for it at all.

What you are being told to download is more than likely a virus disguised as a media codec file.
Unless the video comes from a legitimate source (Apple, Microsoft, BBC etc) the chances are that it is a virus in disguise.
If your downloading it from limewire etc then it almost certainly is dodgy.
PS Full stops and grammar would help us properly understand your question. Can you please try again?

Is your computer Microsoft Windows, an Apple Mac or something else?
When you initially plug your new printer into the computer what does it do?
We will all need more information from yourself before we can help you further.

There are so many different makes and models that it would be almost impossible for anyone to give you an idea. And then, if we did, a new model would come out cheaper than the one you just bought!
As a rough guide, go for HP or Dell. For HP use their 'chooser' link: https://www.simplyhp.co.uk/Laptop+Chooser
For Dell go here:
http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/notebooks?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&~ck=bt
On a personal note, try and avoid Microsoft Vista like the plague, it will cause you nothing but untold grief.
Good luck with your final decision!

Mike, as a alternative to what Alan and Jon are recommending, you could try using Firefox instead of Internet Explorer as your web browser.
Firefox doesn't have any of the inherent security problems that IE has and it also doesn't worry (much) about badly written websites.

Kumar is one of the many false posting and job requests that were made over the last couple of weeks. The PCIQ team have been having to manually check job requests (which has led to a manual delay in legitimate jobs making it onto the site), forum postings etc and this one has obviously slipped through the net.

System restore will only restore system dll files. As mapi32.dll is part of office and not windows it will not be restored.
Have you tried doing a repair (add/remove programs etc) as I suggested in my earlier post?

The mapi32.dll refers to a part of Microsoft Outlook.
If you go into add/remove programs, go down to your MS Office installation, click on it and choose the change option. Once the installer opens up then choose repair.
You may need your 2003 installation CD as well.

It's fairly safe using the terminal - you 'shouldnt' lose any data. If you are at all unsure then do a backup and then let me know once it's done.
Printer problem - completely unrelated to your spotlight problems but they coujld both be symptomatic of a more serious underlying problem.
If you go into applications / utilities and double click on 'disk utility' and (on the left hand side) click once on your hard disk (HDD) and then click on 'verify disk' then do the same with 'repair permission'. Can you let me kow what errors are found?

Ooerr, if you cannot add anything into the spotlight section then it sounds as if there is something (vaguely) wrong with the operating system.
If I was allowed to give my contact details then it could be easily resolved remotely. Gah!
Do you feel brave and want to attempt using terminal (I will give step-by-step instructions to you)?

Try one or both of these:
1. Go to system prefrences, then spotlight and under privacy (don't search section) add your entire hard drive, restart the mac then remove hard drive from spotlight preferences.
2. (Slightly harder and requires knowledge of the terminal application):
Move this file to the Desktop: /User/Library/Preferences/com.apple.systemuiserver.plist
and then restart your mac and test spotlight.
If that doesn't work, then open Terminal and verify that indexing is enabled, by typing at the prompt:
sudo mdutil -s / (and press enter)
It should report "Indexing enabled".
If you want to rebuild the Spotlight index, then type:
sudo mdutil -E / (and press enter)
Let us know how you get on with it.

I agree with what Alan has said but before you end up in telephone-hell does your computer freeze if you start it up in safe mode? (Press F8 repeatedly when you switch it on and it will eventually come up with a start up menu).
If it doesn't freeze in safe mode then the issue is being caused by either a program that is starting up automatically or it is a driver problem.
Try this option first and let us know what happens.

You will need to go into your BIOS (Press either Del, F1, F2 or F10 at computer switch on depending on the manufacturer) and re-enter the timings for your processor speed (assuming you know what they are) or you could try selecting the 'Reset to Default' option.
Lets us know how you get on.

Oops, I should have reread the full thread again before posting :-)
So, its NOT the desktop picture which leave only a customised BIOS screen (highly unlikely as no-one wants to mess up a BIOS) so it could only be the Windows XP startup screen.
Instructions on how to change it are here:
http://www.jakeludington.com/windows_xp/20060219_change_xp_boot_screen.html
or here:
http://www.geocities.com/thejjoelc/XPbootcolors.html
If its the Windows boot logo then you should really REALLY consider getting a professional to fix it. Messing around with kernels is not for the faint hearted.
Good luck!

Quote:
Everytime my present chap comes over i have to switch the monitor off so he doesn't see the picture. Help :-(
I think this just a standard background picture as she clearly states that she has to switch the monitor off to stop her new bloke from seeing it and as the lady doesn't even know how to get into the BIOS I assume that it isn't a customised BIOS splash screen.
Sarah: assuming I'm correct then please follow these instructions:
http://www.homeandlearn.co.uk/BC/bcs1p11.html
Guys: stop the bickering. It doesn't look good for potential customers reading the forums and gives a bad impression to the rest of us.

Hi Anna,
Sounds as if the hard drive has given up the ghost.
Mac's use a standard IDE interface so you will be able to buy a replacement hard drive for less than £50.
It may also be possible to recover your data from the old drive.
Put a request in for someone to come and have a look at it.

The sites that you can't get into: are they 'secure' sites such as online banking etc (ie do their web address start with https?
If so then visit here and follow the instructions.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;318378

Go to system preferences, then accounts and for each account you haver listed there, check the login startup items.
As you install software some of it is set to startup automatically. Deleteing most of them will be fine.

Battery problem - If you cannot run it without mains and you have tried another battery then it appears to be a problem with the motherboard in your laptop not recognising the battery.
If it is still under warrenty then get back in touch with Sony.

As linux was install after windows it will either be a lilo or grub problem. You will need to rewrite the mbr for the windows hard drive.
Follow these instructions:
http://forums.techguy.org/2385113-post2.html